The Visions of Ransom Lake by Marcia Lynn McClure Page B

accept and shake her extended hand. He simply nodded and looked back to her uncle.
    “ Ya missed quite a town social a couple weeks back, Ransom,” Dan said as he walked to the wagon and lifted out a sack of flour. “Dancin’, pies, pretty girls—just about everything a man could want.” Dan handed the sack of flour to Ransom Lake, who hefted it onto his shoulder, walked to the house, and set it down on the front porch. “’Course, I know ya don’t go in much for social gatherin’s…but still, the pies were good.”
    Vaden again found herself staring shamelessly at Ransom Lake as he worked to help her uncle unload the wagon. Actually, her staring had nothing to do with the fact she had never before seen a man in such a state of undress. Granted, his chest and stomach, his entire torso, was a fascinating mass of perfectly sculpted muscles, but Vaden was more intrigued with his manner. He seemed self-conscious and yet, at the same time, indifferent.
    “ Wimber gonna harvest those pumpkins soon?” Ransom Lake inquired of Dan.
    “’ Bout two or three weeks, so he tells me,” Uncle Dan answered. “I hope we’ll see ya out at the Halloween social, Ransom. It’s Halloween night out by the old oak west of town.”
    Ransom Lake didn’t answer. He simply hefted the sack of sugar Dan handed him onto his shoulder and carried it to the porch. When he returned, he paused and said, “Don’t think folks want the likes of me roamin’ around at the socials.”
    “ They’re simply scared of you because you make them feel ignorant.” The statement was past Vaden’s lips and into the autumn air before she could stop. She winced as she looked at the man, afraid he might literally bite off her head.
    As the turbulent gray of his eyes pierced the softness of Vaden’s, Dan chuckled. “She’s got it right there, boy.”
    “ Ignorant?” the man questioned. “Explain that to me, girl.”
    Vaden clasped her hands together to try to still their trembling as she spoke. “You’re obviously a man who wants no one and needs nothing from others to survive. Most people aren’t like that, so independent and self-sufficient. They all know you don’t need them or want them, and they feel less confident in your presence is all. And you do look a bit intimidating. I know you look as you do intentionally…to disguise yourself from the world for whatever reasons you have. But they probably think you do it on purpose to look frightening and to try to emphasize your superiority.”
    Ransom Lake scowled deeply as he reached into the wagon and withdrew a bucket of lard. “Your niece is a very presumptuous girl, Dan. Is the other one this bad?” he asked.
    “ The other one is the picture of Missy Proper Polly. This one’s honest and says what she thinks. But I’ll warn ya, Ransom…don’t take your eyes off of her or you’re liable to find beans up your nose.” Uncle Dan looked at Vaden all too aware of her humiliation and chuckled merrily.
    Vaden closed her eyes and wished she could melt into the ground so it could absorb her into oblivion. She couldn’t believe her uncle had said what he did! It had started out to be a compliment, she knew. But, oh, what an ending!
    “ Don’t know nothin’ about beans, but I do know somethin’ about boots conkin’ ya on the head,” Ransom Lake said. Vaden opened her eyes to see him staring at her with the possibility of a grin hiding beneath the abundant facial hair he wore. She wanted to feel his hair at that moment, to know whether it was soft or coarse.
    Dan chuckled quietly and placed the back of one hand tenderly against Vaden’s scarlet-warmed cheek. Vaden cast her eyes to the ground again, for Ransom Lake continued to stare at her with his unsettling eyes.
    “ What’s the winter gonna bring this year anyhow, Ransom?” Dan asked. Vaden almost forgave him for teasing her, for she knew he was taking the attention from her blush.
    Ransom Lake paused in unloading his supplies from